Chicken & Biscuits Casserole

This recipe is kind of like deconstructed chicken pot pie, and since it looked very easy to lighten up, I was pretty excited to make it. I absolutely love Bisquick drop biscuits (that was my favorite part) and the whole dish was very warm, tasty and ideal if you’re craving comfort food. 

I discovered this recipe in another cooking blog, Stephanie Cooks. Her blog really inspired me – I plan on trying a lot of her recipes! While reading through her blog I discovered she started out a lot like me, with minimal cooking experience, just posting for her friends, and she and her blog have evolved in the way I hope this will someday. This was one of her first recipes so it seemed fitting for me to give it a try and it turned out well! I did modify it a little by using more “light” ingredients.

Ravio-sagne

This is a great way to get all the flavors of lasagna with virtually none of the prep time. I made a few changes to the original recipe, including using less cheese, but trust me, it’s still plenty cheesy. The ravioli goes in frozen so your prep time is simply layering it with sauce and cheese. Delicious & easy!

Baked Zucchini Fries with Marinara Sauce

I made these for a Christmas Eve appetizer and they were a hit! The sauce is downright delicious, so I urge you to go ahead and make it (it’s really fast) rather than substituting store-bought marinara. I could have ordered these in a restaurant! They tasted great and looked fabulous (I love when foods give good presentation). Great for company.

Source: skinnytaste.com

Cincinnati Chili

Growing up I was never a fan of chili…I think it might have been the beans. I actually like it now, beans and all, but when I went to college in Ohio I got my first taste of how Cincinnati does chili (beanless, topped with cheddar and served over spaghetti) and I was hooked. Now that I could get on board with! I had a roommate who used to make it, and even though I’ve since tried Skyline Chili, I will always think hers was the best.

When I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers site I was pretty excited to try my hand at making it myself and as soon as I tasted it I knew WW got it right. I ended up making it with lean ground beef instead of ground chicken like the recipe originally called for and I omitted adding water because I wanted it thick. I was a tiny bit worried about putting in 6 whole Tbsp of chili powder but it turned out perfect. It’s got just the right amount of heat to it and the flavors all come together really well. I already can’t wait to make this again!

Pumpkin Banana Bread & Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

This is a great combo for Fall or any time of year. This bread made my whole apartment smell amazing when it was baking and tasted as good as it smelled. The cream cheese was incredible and also delicious on bagels or even apple slices. The cream cheese recipe makes a lot, but it can be halved easily. The two together are heavenly and the bread also tastes great on its own or with light butter.

Cheesy Chicken Cups

I had some extra chicken breast cooked and was looking to use it in a super fast and easy recipe. Since I also had a can of biscuits in my fridge (I used the reduced fat kind), this fit the bill perfectly. I love the idea of the biscuit cups (I can’t wait to get creative and try other things with that concept) and the filling was ooey-gooey, warm and cheesy. This is a very quick and simple way to get that comfort food taste/feeling. They even warmed up well as leftovers and I’m betting kids would love them.

Four Cheese Macaroni & Cheese

I love macaroni and cheese. Growing up my mom made an amazing baked macaroni and cheese recipe I’d always look forward to and when I got my own place it was one of the first things I learned how to make. Coating carbs with cheese and topping them with bread crumbs and more cheese is generally not considered a “healthy” recipe (except maybe in my dreams) but after trying this recipe I’d like to commend the fine folks at Weight Watchers for making that dream a reality.

I did change several things from the original recipe (switched onions to onion powder, used lighter versions of milk and pasta, omitted a couple ingredients and added panko crumbs) and when I make it again I will definitely keep all my edits and make it the exact same way. I would never guess this is a Weight Watchers recipe. I love that it uses “real” cheeses and the addition of blue cheese to the mix gave it a great unique flavor profile.  The serving size is filling but you might be tempted to eat more just because it’s so tasty! I also highly recommend it as leftovers. Yum.

Lasagna Rolls

 

I am a big fan of Gina’s Skinny Taste blog, so I wasn’t surprised when these turned out great. I used to think I didn’t like ricotta cheese but it’s growing on me. It’s fun having your own individual personal-sized lasagna roll and they tasted great to boot! One lasagna roll was plenty filling for me, but since I live by myself and it makes 9 rolls I’ll probably wait to make it again when I’m planning to have company. The presentation would be great if you’re having guests since it looks relatively impressive for something pretty simple to make.

Sloppy Joes

Until about a year ago I had never tried a Sloppy Joe. Generally when I tell people that they look shocked, but it simply wasn’t something my mother served us. I tried the canned Manwich kind about a year ago and found that though sloppy, they’re actually really yummy and a great comfort food.

When I saw this recipe on the Skinny Taste web site I knew right away that I wanted to give it a try. Gina’s site has so many amazing recipes and this is no exception, it’s absolutely delicious. I actually ended up eating some of the leftovers just straight out of a bowl the next day because the recipe is so good. The vegetables give it a hearty texture and I actually prefer the taste to the canned version. The picture of this recipe is awful (I’ll have to take a new one next time I make it and update it) but just trust me, you should make this.

Diet Coke Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I’m not a big cake person but I’ve always heard from people trying to lighten up their diets that you can make really delicious cake using cake mix and diet soda. My mom ended up making some and it really did taste moist and delicious, so I decided to try it myself, as cupcakes. They turned out pretty well!

I decided to top them with frosting (who eats cupcakes without frosting?) and I found a yummy looking cream cheese frosting recipe on the Skinny Taste site. The frosting turned out pretty good, but I opted to replace the sugar in the recipe with Splenda to lighten it up even more and in the future I would just use the sugar or a blend of the two. The frosting definitely had that Splenda aftertaste to it. Otherwise the frosting was good, so I look forward to trying it again without the sugar substitute.

Brie Turkey Wrap

This wrap makes a delicious quick lunch, especially with some fruit and a side of Crunchy Microwave Potato Chips. The cranberry jelly gives it a nice sweetness and I think that President brand light brie tastes just as good as the full fat kind. If you love brie, this is for you!

Balsamic Feta Chicken Pizza

My sister Carrie introduced me to the Boboli 8” whole wheat personal pizza crusts and I couldn’t believe how delicious and filling they are. All you have to do is pick some toppings and your pizza is ready in no time! It’s great because if you have friends over or picky kids to serve, everyone can create their own pizza with whatever toppings they prefer.

This flavor combination sounded good to me and I usually have most of these ingredients on hand making it an easy and delicious staple to throw together on nights when I don’t have a lot of time to cook. I love feta cheese (and since the flavor is strong you can get a lot of taste out of a relatively small amount of cheese) and balsamic glaze just makes everything better. I hope you enjoy this quick easy pizza as much as I did!

Crunchy Microwave Potato Chips

Crispy, crunchy potato chips made in the microwave? If that idea seems nonsensical to you, you’re not alone, and yet it works and they’re great! I was so surprised, but these chips taste much more like traditional fried potato chips (or even kettle chips since they’re so crunchy) than the packaged baked chips you can buy at the store. Plus these are easy to make and more affordable! These really are a delicious win-win replacement for fried chips.

*The above photo does not depict a full serving size.

Mushroom Risotto & Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins

This feels like the first truly impressive thing I made. My sister was visiting and she’s a vegetarian, so I wanted to make something we could both enjoy and this risotto recipe seemed ambitious, yet manageable. It’s not difficult, but it is a bit time consuming. It takes about a full hour to make, but trust me, it's worth it. This risotto is absolutely delicious. It’s rich, creamy, cheesy, flavorful and impressive enough to serve to guests. They will never guess it’s a Weight Watchers recipe unless you tell them because it seems so decadent. I will definitely make this again!

I wanted to serve a side dish along with the risotto and I came across this quick recipe for Spinach with Pine Nuts & Raisins, which seemed like a nice complement. It really couldn’t be faster or easier to make and it turned out to be an elegant and harmonious match to the creamy risotto. Both recipes are below.

Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole

*UPDATE 1/7/12: A new & improved version of this recipe is available! I made a few tweaks to incorporate more widely available ingredients and to make this dish more filling. The results are delicious! To view the updated recipe, click here!



This recipe gets passed around the Weight Watchers message boards all the time, usually with rave reviews, so since I adore enchiladas it was definitely one of the first recipes on my to-do list. It's very simple to make, since it’s just browning the ground turkey and then combining pre-packaged ingredients, and it tasted very good. I even used the Taco Seasoned Jennie-O lean ground turkey for a little extra flavor. My only issue with this dish is that I didn’t feel like a serving was all that filling for me. If you served it with a salad or some sautéed zucchini or another filling vegetable side dish then I think it could be a complete meal, so that’s my recommendation. It’s definitely an easy way to get enchilada flavors without much prep time.

Baked Pizza Spaghetti

Weight Watchers calls this recipe “Spaghetti Pizza” but I feel that choice of word order is deceptive because it in no way resembles a pizza in the typical sense. It is, however, very tasty and combines the flavors of pizza and spaghetti (and who doesn’t like those?). The original recipe calls for the addition of ¼ c of basil, but since I didn’t have any on hand when I made this, it’s omitted in my version. I also substituted reduced fat mozzarella and turkey pepperoni for the regular versions which lightened it up a bit more and tasted delicious (I love turkey pepperoni).

One of my co-workers also made this recipe after seeing mine and omitted the pepperoni altogether and also gave hers rave reviews. You could add any of your favorite pizza toppings and this would turn out well.

Loaded Mashed Potato Cakes

These were really delicious. The recipe called for packaged, refrigerated mashed potatoes (just my speed at the time since it was one of the first things I made) which some wouldn’t consider ideal, but it cuts down on the prep time significantly (which I suppose is how it was able to be featured in the WW 15 Minute Recipe magazine). They turned out great, so I wouldn’t change a thing. If it’s important to you to start with whole potatoes and mash them yourself I’m sure that would work just fine. The serving size is 2 potato cakes and it makes for a filling side dish or even a yummy breakfast!

*Sorry the picture is horrible, I took it with my old phone. I’ve since upgraded.

First Post!

I'm really excited to kick off my blog with my first official post! About two months ago I realized it would be much easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle if I really, truly enjoyed the foods I was eating, and that this meant I was going to have to start learning to cook. Since my cooking experience at the time consisted mostly of boiling water and microwaving frozen meals I was a bit tentative, but I was surprised and pleased when I realized that finding recipes and creating healthy and delicious meals was a whole lot easier than I'd thought!

I've developed a real excitement and passion for cooking in the past two months and also for sharing the results with my friends and family. I've been taking photos of each dish I created and when I started getting requests for the recipes I thought creating a blog would be the easiest way to share my kitchen moving forward.

Over the next week or two I plan to start by "back-blogging" about the recipes I've already made and photographed in the past two months. Some of them were wonderful and I don't want them to be left out! Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you get some great ideas for recipes you'd like to make in your own home. Happy cooking!